Page 58 of Soulmate of the Mafia King
“I don’t know if I count.” Penny looked away.
“Does serial dating count?” Emma asked.
I laughed. “Okay, okay, who are we doing this for next?”
“Paige,” Olivia said promptly.
“Agreed.” Lauren nodded.
The woman in question started turning as red as her hair. “Did you guys see how Patrick was staring?”
Olivia laughed. “Patrick is happy to stare. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had to propose!”
A chorus of disagreement filled the car, and the topic drifted away, but I kept looking at Paige. I knew that nervous, not-quite-unhappy blush. It wouldn’t be long now.
CHAPTER 44
KILLIAN
Isat at a mirrored dressing table Sera had actually been right that I would need and adjusted the sides of my tie. She’d insisted that, to commemorate the special occasion of our wedding, I had to wear something other than black or gray. I’d assented to a tie in the deep blue-violet Sera had chosen for the main wedding color. Apparently, it contrasted the flowers but didn’t clash.
“Looks uneven,” Tommaso said as he sauntered into the room.
“I’ve been tying my own tie for forty-three goddamn years?—”
“Forty-four,” he corrected. “You forgetting how old you are now?.”
I turned back to the mirror, away from my best man. I shook my head at him. “I wasn’t tying ties when I was a baby.” Today was also the anniversary of my father’s death, after all. The man who’d taught me how to tie the ties I’d been wearing all my life. He’d raised me to be the man I was before Sera.Mano Della Morte, running Philadelphia with an iron fist. Vividly, I remembered being sent home from kindergarten for stealing another kid’s cookie. He’d gotten to me first and told me in no uncertain terms that stealing candy from babies was below aRicci man. Then, he’d glanced around and added that if I was going to do such a thing, I ought to know better than to get caught.
With a small smile, I adjusted my tie one last time and tied it.
“Ah, so weddings pull a smile even out of the stone man.” Tommaso leaned into my vision, already fully dressed. “Thinking about your gorgeous bride?”
“Thinking about what my father would say if he were here,” I replied.
“Hmph. Bit dramatic, but whatever it takes to keep the wife happy,” Tommaso replied in an impersonation good enough to startle a laugh out of me.
“He’d be standing in the corner and smoking like a chimney,” I said.
“And then he’d pull both of us aside to tell us that if we didn’t get our acts together and start behaving like men, we’d lose the best things that ever happened to us.” Tommaso grinned. “Then look around and ask us to tell your mom he said that.”
I nodded, and my chest grew tight. My father raised me to be the man I was before Sera, but I knew he’d appreciate the man I became with her. Even if that meant ending Ricci control of Philadelphia. I clapped Tommaso on the shoulder and smiled.
“Knock, knock,” Adrian drawled as he leaned into the room. “I was told this is where the handsome, suited men go.”
“By Penny?” Tommaso asked, pivoting effortlessly away from the private moment he knew I wouldn’t want shared.
Patrick walked in after Adrian. “Olivia, actually.”
Adrian fidgeted, trying to avoid the insinuation about his relationship with Penny. They weren’t anything official yet, but everyone could see the writing on the wall. Perhaps, like Tommaso and me, leading the city would lead him to what his heart really wanted.
I’d spent too long writing my vows last night. I rubbed a hand over my face and tried not to look like I’d sat up until three in the morning.
“Fuck, man.” Tommaso stepped out the door, loudly ordered some coffee, and returned. “Last night before marriage sex, or bridezilla?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you really see Sera as a bridezilla?”
He snorted. “Uh, yeah. I remember the fit she pitched when you kidnapped her.”
